Keep Bank Charges At Bay
16 04 2012We all hate them, yet some of us continue to pay £100′s each month for excess overdrafts, late fees, unpaid direct debits etc. The bigger the bank, the less your chances of satisfaction when something goes wrong or you are looking for help. A big bank simply doesn’t need your business enough to waste time trying to figure out how they messed up and made you pay for their mistake. It’s much easier to ignore you and lose you than if they were a smaller bank. If you are counting on flexibility and the ability to make contact with human beings who actually work inside the bank that made a mistake, then avoid the banking behemoths and stick with a regional bank.
Ultimately, your bank will simply consider you to be an account number, not an individual and any favours they may have extended in the past will certainly not occur again when they realise you are unable to meet your monthly payments. Remember all decisions regarding your account are made by head office rather than your local branch. When you open up a checking account, be sure to ask specific questions and get specific answers in regard to overdraft charges. Inquire about things like overdraft charging fee amounts, electronic monitoring of your checking account and notification from the bank if your account does become overdrawn and whether the bank offers the option of allowing you to deposit money to avoid bouncing a check. If the bank does offer the latter option, be sure to ask about deadlines.
If you regularly miss repayments and don’t talk to your lender about your circumstances, your bank could take you to court for non-payment and get a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against you. This will count against you if you apply for credit in any form for the next six years.
Many lenders, such as banks and credit card companies, have agreed with the government to give borrowers 30 days ‘breathing space’ to deal with their debts. You must seek advice from a free advice agency first. You then need to write to your creditors and ask them to hold action for 30 days under the breathing space commitment.
